


Fade

by Rikida (Taikida)



Series: Mirrorverse [4]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Captured, Daddy!Vincent, Hurt Reno, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Torture, au!, under cover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-23
Updated: 2015-11-13
Packaged: 2018-04-27 18:36:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5059657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taikida/pseuds/Rikida
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reno's mission goes south and he is waiting to be either killed or rescued. He knows that the other Turks will look for him within 24 hours, but he needs to survive the interrogation until then.<br/>Contains various methods of torture.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hour Zero

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Final Fantasy VII, nor the characters, I do however belong to the ones that can't stop loving them. (And whump the hell out of them... mostly I do heal them as well...)

FUBAR, cluster fuck, SNAFU, shit gone to hell and then some, all those could describe Reno's mission at the moment. He had taken out his target, a leader for one of the press-gangs he had infiltrated in district 6, clean double tap just as he had been taught. He had even made sure that the rest of the gang had been out on work before proceeding with his job. He hadn't counted in that they had finished early and returned to the base just as he had exited. Out-gunned, out-maneuvered they had soon forced him into submission and one of them had managed to slug him over the head and into unconsciousness.

So there he was, hanging by his wrist, ankles tied and secured to the floor in a cellar somewhere below the Plate, he knew that they would question him or rather torture him to get information. His head throbbed in time with his heart and as he looked up his vision blurred slightly. Well, the other Turks would know that he missed reporting in at 23:40, at midnight they would know that Reven was dead, that his mission was finished, they would wait another 8 hours until they sent out someone to track him, he had to hold out until they found him. They would hunt the rest of the D6 press-gang down and they would find him. The door swung open and three men entered, two of them carrying equipment for interrogation. His heart sped up but his face remained bored, they would not be allowed to see his fear.  
“Good evening,” the front man said, sitting down on the chair in front of Reno, lighting a cigarette as the men started pulled on gloves. “I would like to know who you are, what faction you belong to and why you killed Reven.”

Hold out against the torture, and trust that the other Turks would find him, hold out.


	2. Two hours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Final Fantasy VII, I only kidnap the characters and use them
> 
> Reno's potty mouth is emerging, so warning for occasional swearing

He spit out a gob of blood, smirking as it struck one of his interrogators, he nicknamed the man Bomom and the other was Dumom, it fit them, idiots with big muscles, no brains. He had tried to kick them the first few minutes after they started in on him with their fists, but they kept his legs tied to a ring in the floor, and it only added to the pain. So he restrained himself from kicking, but spitting was another thing altogether. Bomom sneered at him as he slammed his brass knuckles into Reno's left side, the sound of his ribs finally giving in and breaking made his cry out weakly. Reno's head fell forward to his chest as he gasped for breath, trying to catalog his list of injuries, determine if his lung had been compromised. Dumom grabbed him by the hair pulling his head back, bright spots dancing in his field of vision.

“What is your name?” Reven's replacement asked from his chair, he wasn't even looking at Reno, he was cleaning his nails with a small knife, Reno grinned, they had tried with this method for an hour and a half, he wouldn't break down from lovetaps like fists.

“Fuck you... aint telling you bitch...” Reno slurred, blood running from the cuts in his lips. The man just smiled, cold as Shiva's breath.

“I like that kind of loyalty, let's take our little games up a notch, let our guest down and sit him down.”

Dumom leaned back, his hand still entwined in Reno's long hair, and then Reno crashed to the ground, the ache in his injured ribs turned to a roaring fire and he tried to curl in but Dumom still held his hair forcing him to keep straight. The man dragged him over to the chair and Reno grabbed onto Dumom's wrists to avoid his scalp tearing. His shoulders ached with the motion. Bomom had already pulled out a chair, it looked like a fucking dentists chair and the metal restraints on the footrest and armrests looked bad. Reno kicked out with his bound feet hitting Bomom as he leaned down to help his partner to get the redhead into the chair, again Bomom snarled and just stabbed his fingers against the broken ribs. The added discomfort made the air leave Reno's lungs and he nearly blacked out and when he had his wits about he was already secured in the chair, and the leader was sitting closer, another cigarette lit in the corner of his mouth.

“I will ask you a question, for every refuse or lie I am going to let them hurt you,” he handed the small knife over to Dumom who grinned as he started cutting a piece wood into thin, sharp splinters. “What is your name?”

“Fuck you,” Reno said eyes fixed beyond the man, a irregular spot in the plastered wall, Dumom grabbed his right pinky and jammed one of the newly carved splinters under the nail, going slowly as to accent the growing pain, Reno shut his eyes and bit his lip. The pain explodes as Dumom twisted the splinter upwards, breaking it off, most of it still buried under Reno's nail and he gasped out a cry.

“Let's try again shall we? Who do you work for?” Reno blinked focused at the man across of him, the man grinned at him, Reno grinned back.

“Your mother, who I saw fucking a Dual Horn and still begged for more cock.” The man laughed at that and motioned Dumom to continue, Reno stared at the irregular spot again, now prepared for the pain as Dumom slowly slid another piece of wood beneath his ring-finger nail, he still has to control his breathing to avoid making sounds.

“Who ordered Reven's death?” Reno's looked at his hand, blood was dripping from the injured fingers, the nails were still there, but he held no illusions that they would be allowed to stay. Bomom grabbed his hair forcing his head back up to look at the new leader. “Who ordered Reven's death?”

“A deathgaze down on Wall Market, Reven killed the colony.” Dumom continued with his middle-finger nail and the index finger, Reno's hand was shaking now. 

He needed to endure, the others would come, just endure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Splinters under the nails...   
> I have suffered broken ribs, bones, fractured scull, burns kind of you name it... But the effing splinters under a nail beats every thing.  
> And I am doing this to poor Reno...
> 
> Pretty Please Review!


	3. Five Hours

Droplets of blood pattered to the floor as Dumom tore another nail from it's bed and Reno gasped out a cry, he was trembling from the exertion to keep from screaming. Reven's replacement grinned as he leaned over and casually placed the still burning stub of his cigarette against the bleeding surface of his thumbnail. Reno screamed for real this time.

“Name?” the man asked as he gripped Reno's jaw forcing him to meet his eyes, Reno was trying to get his breathing under control.

“Fu-fuck you...” he murmured, all he wanted was to get away from the pain.

“Wrong answer again, you enjoy this pain?” the man asked as he pressed his jaw tighter, Reno spat at him, blood and saliva dribbling down the dark-haired man's face. The response was instant, the fist to his face made him black out.

 

Water was poured down his windpipe and he started coughing trying to get away from it, panic clear, but the restraints held him to still, unable to move and the water kept coming. He couldn't see anything but black and the water kept flowing into his nose and mouth, he coughed but it didn't help, he was drowning, his feet kicked the few inches the metal band over them allowed and he couldn't even cough anymore. The fabric over his face disappeared and Bomom tipped the chair up and Reno nearly vomited as he gasped and coughed for air, the pain in his ribs and hands forgotten in this more horrid way of agony.

“Who ordered the hit on Reven?”

Reno gasped for breath, heaving as Dumom grabber him by the hair, jerking his head up and he blinked as he tried to focus. “Who ordered the hit?” the man repeated calmly and Reno shook his head, unable to utter a reply, the man nodded and the chair tipped backwards and the dark wet fabric covered his face again and the water poured over it again, into his mouth and nose and he sputtered and coughed, hands and feet fighting against the restraints. He could hear the men around him laughing at his futile movements and the water kept coming. He had been exposed to waterboarding as part of his training, then it had been under controlled retirement and Tseng had been the one doing the deed, now he was in the hands of enemies and it was terrifyingly real and horrid and he was panicking. He couldn't get air into his waterclogged airways, swallowing the water didn't help, it just kept pouring in more, his movements stilled. The chair was tipped up again and the cloth removed, he still couldn't breathe, not even cough. A hand slapped down hard on his sternum and a flood of pinkish water spewed from his mouth, and he felt tears run down his cheeks as he slowly regained his breath again. They held his head up by his hair yet again, bright spots dancing in his limited field of vision.

“Reno, I need an answer,” the man said slowly. Reno nearly started at the use of his name, he hadn't told, he knew that he hadn't said his name, hadn't divulged any information, how did the man know. If he knew the Turks name, then he probably knew more than that, that he was a Turk, that the hit was on Shinra's order. “Reno, we will let you rest if you tell us who ordered Reven's death,”

“Ifrit take you,” Reno whispered, his voice barely audible, he wouldn't talk, talking would mean that when he was rescued there was a high possibility that he would still get killed. They might know his name but they might not know everything, after all, he had been born in the slums, it might happen that someone had recognized him. The chair tipped backwards again and he screamed as the cloth descended over his face yet again and the water returned.


	4. 7 hours counting

The floor was ice-cold beneath his shaking body, he knew that he was in trouble, breathing was an agony, both from his bruised, broken ribs and the fluid still trapped in his lungs. He was tired, so very tired, breath wheezing in and out, it misted in the air in front of his mouth. They had kept up with the waterboarding for a long time, until he was unable to cough anymore, at a point when questions couldn't have been answered no matter how much he had broken. He had broken, his mind a swirling emptiness when they had tied his ankles and wrists together behind his back and splashed him with cold water before leaving him in the cold cellar, the light still burning overhead. Reno closed his eyes concentrating on breathing and tried to rest for a while, the men would be back. They just needed a break themselves, they would be back with more questions. He thought of the others, Rude would be searching now, Tseng as well, the Wutaian was relentless when another Turk was in danger. Vincent was probably about to explode, but he was family, he kind of hoped that they hadn't told Sephiroth yet, the general would use Comet on the entire neighborhood as revenge when he died. Reno made a face, he was not going to die, he was just 17 years old, he would live through this. He had to survive, the alternative was not an option. Vincent would be there like he always was. 

The door to the cellar crashed open and Reno glanced up, a slight hope that it would be Rude's familiar frame but his heart dropped as it was the trio returning. The leader sat down on the chair again, the ever present cigarette in the corner of his mouth. The two goons headed over to him and he shied away as they cut the rope connecting the cuffs around his ankles and wrists, he kicked at Dumom who booted him hard in the belly, making every particle of air leave his lungs, at least it felt that way.

Bomom lifted him up, Reno barely reacted to them, he still couldn't breathe properly, it sounded even worse now, crackles and the coughing was a constant companion to breathing. Bomom shook him as he attached the cable to Reno's tied arms, they were still behind his back but Reno was unable to stay upright, his knees refused to hold his weight, his shoulders ached and the position made it harder to breathe. The man also secured Reno's tied, bleeding feet to the ring in the cement.

“Reno, who do you work for, Reno?” his captor asked again, Reno's eyes slid shut on their own accord and he just hung there, his shoulders already . A palm connected with his left cheek and Reno blinked his eyes open, Dumom was holding a hand beneath his chin. “Get the smelling salt, get him a bit more alert,” the leader ordered, and Bomom reached over and handed a small ampule to Dumom who held it under Reno's nose. Reno flinched back, coughing harder but his mind cleared copiously, his eyes focused on the front man, he nodded at him and one of the stooges started to crank the cable, pulling Reno's arms upwards. “Reno, who do you work for?”

“Fuck off!” Reno refused, the words yanked out of him when the shortening cable forced him to bend further forwards to alleviate the building pressure on his shoulders, slowly but surely overextending and slipping the joints out of place.

“Again, the wrong answer,” the leader smiled motioning to the man handling the crank, Reno felt a sharp cry leave his as the wire shortened hastily, his right shoulder slipping out of it's socket in a rapid yank. It made him hurl, only bloody bile but it made his sore throat sting further, vision darkening. “Another ampule of smelling salt, we can't have him blacking out.”

Reno tried to turn his head away but Dumom held him by the hair, Rude had something with being bald, no fucking hair to grab onto, the acrid smell mad him gasp for air as he started coughing again.

“F-fuck...” Reno whimpered as Dumom put pressure to the dislocated joint. 

“Reno, where did you get your orders from? Who authorized the hit on Reven?” the man's voice was mild and calm, he had been calm all along. Reno concentrated on breathing, it was tiring and he was exhausted from the constant pain, he wouldn't tell them shit, it wasn't going to happen.

“Aint talking...” Reno smiled, feeling the cuts open in his lips, not caring much, he was too tired. The cable yanked upwards again and he screamed as his left shoulder and right elbow slid out of joint, then he actually, thankfully, mercifully slipped into unconsciousness.


	5. Eight hours

It took both of the goons to move him now, Reno was limp between them, barely aware of them handling him, just added pain in his arms, shoulders burning from the dislocation. They manhandled him into the chair, securing his arms to the armrests and then bands across his upper body, even his head was secured to the headrest. Reno grit his teeth as Bomom slapped his cheek, the world coming into more focus. He was freezing, hurting and to tired, it was just too much. The leader wasn't in the room, he noticed as he glanced around the brightly lit cellar, the wooden chair was empty even though he could still smell tobacco, the man hadn't been gone long. Reno tried to relax, fighting back the anxiety over his disability to breathe properly. He would live, he had to get back to his friends and family.

The door swung open and the leader entered, a small case in one hand and a PHS in the other, he smiled as he finished his call, slid the device into his pocket and strode over to the table, opening the case to reveal the contents. Five pre-filled syringes, four glowing softly green from Mako, the last one a milky white, he looked very satisfied as he picked one up.

“You are very persistent, I give you that, Reno,” he said as he pulled the chair closer to his prisoner, sat down so that their eyes met. “This,” he wriggled the syringe in front of Reno's eyes, “is a concoction of my own device. It is rather harmless, gives the user euphoria and calm. Unless you add Mako, with Mako added it causes pain, excruciating pain. It also causes seizures and delirium. One dose isn't lethal, two might kill you, three is pushing it, but the fourth dose is guaranteed to kill you. Another thing about this drug is that you can't loose consciousness. It keeps your brain awake through seizures and agony,” he smiled. Reno looked at the dimly glowing liquid with dread, he shook his head as much as the straps allowed. 

“please, no, don't,” the words where a mere whisper but it could have been a scream and Reno fought against the bonds with renewed vigor, panic building as the leader leaned over to him, pulling a rubber tie around his secured upper arm.

“Will you tell me Reno?” the man asked as he tapped the crook of Reno's elbow to get the veins show clearer.

“I won't,” Reno couldn't tell them. He wouldn't tell.

The leader sighed as he slid the needle in, respiring and the green glow darkened with blood before he pressed the plunger, releasing the rubber tie with the other hand.

 

At first Reno couldn't feel anything, but then ice flowed up his arm, making his breath stutter in his chest. The drug then reached his heart and the ice was replaced by fire and his stuttering breath was replaced with a scream, hands clenching into fists on their own accord. The drug was agony. Next it reached his brain and agony turned into multicolor.

As the leader had promised it was excruciating, and as his body started to convulse, the screams caught in his throat, locked by cramping muscles, the only sounds escaping him was gurgled groans. He had never felt more pain, and his mind was ripping to shreds from it. Reno completely lost track of time, just knew pain, more pain and his muscles ripping themselves apart in the seizures.

The seizures abated and Reno fought to draw a full breath, the pain still lingering horribly near, it was still there but he closed his eyes and gasped in lungfulls of air.

“That was one dose, the effects of the drug multiplies with each dosage.” The man lifted the milky white syringe up and showed it to Reno, “this is the antidote for the drug. I will give it to you if you tell me what I want to know.”

Reno shook his head, he couldn't talk, even if he wanted to, he couldn't get enough air to speak.

“I am sorry to hear that Reno.” The rubber strap was tied around his upper arm again and another needle found it's way into his vein and the agony returned tenfold. The seizures returned and he wanted to scream but again he couldn't do more than grunt.   
He would die from this and he actually wished that someone could put a bullet through his skull and let him die.   
He would die, he wished that he had told Elena that he liked her for more than her expert shooting skills.  
He would die, he should have tried harder to seduce Tseng that night.  
He would die, he wished that his dad was there to hold his hand.   
He would die... die... dead...


	6. 12 hours and gone

The drugs made him whimper, his muscles still cramping and he had bitten his tongue at some point. But as the leader had promised, his broken body refused to let go into blissful unconsciousness.

“Reno? Who gave the order?” the man sounded so far away, and Reno bit back nausea in vain, he puked. Vomit slipped back into his airways making the two goons react fast, removing the straps, moving him forward but a new seizure made Reno fall to the cement writhing weakly, his head slamming into the floor, heels in a staccato.

They had given him three injections of the drug, and maybe this was his death-throes, Reno kind of hoped that they were, death would mean no more pain. He would return to the Lifestream, he had seen it happen several times. At least he hoped that he would be allowed to join the Lifestream. His head ached fiercely, he probably cracked his skull against the cement, Dumom turned him to the side. But he was just too tired to care, he threw up again, mostly blood. The seizures just kept coming, and his mind was going blank from pain. He thought he saw his dad's familiar frame enter through the door before the world faded into red and white noise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is very, very short. Might end it like this


	7. +10 minutes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rescue? Seen from Director Vincent's POW

The sun was rising when they finally had the location, it had taken them far too long to locate the gang and Vincent was silently seething as he checked his guns and checked that he had extra clips. D6 was going to disappear, as simple as that, the Turks were going to eradicate them. The President had given the order to erase the press-gangs, and they were going to end D6, Vincent was afraid that they would be too late to save Reno, terrified. His fears made Chaos rear it's ugly voice in his head, trying to persuade him to let it loose on the ones that dared to harm his adopted child. 

Rude was at his shoulder as where Tseng, they were the ones carrying the tranquilizers in case his tenant caused problems, and two of the Turks that held Reno very close. The others were preparing for battle as well, he saw Emma helping her little-sister Elena into the protective armor, he knew that the younger female disliked it but Emma was determined to keep her safe. Cissnei was sharpening her shuriken and Wry checked his knives, everyone was preparing, beyond them the rest were finishing up.

“We are not going to leave one member of D6 alive,” Vincent said, voice low and dangerous still it reached throughout the entire office. He was met with nods and affirmative words, one did not attack the Turks and got away with it, and press-gangs were a stain that would disappear from Midgar in a quick precise coordinated action, SOLDIER and army were in on the operation as well. But as D6 had one of the Turks, they had claimed that gang for their own, even though it had caused an argument between Vincent and his oldest son.

 

The short journey down to the slums and the Turks heading out in number had people disappear from the streets and when they reached their destination mayhem broke out. Vincent and his two shadows took lead, guns blazing, killing D6 members without mercy, two were left alive and Tseng questioned them, he was the specialist. It only took them 20 minutes to get the location where they were interrogating Reno.

 

The red-eyed director of the Turks motioned for Tseng and Rude to come along, he noted that Cissnei and Wry took the rear of the party as they ran for the apartment-block. The four Turks could barely keep up with Vincent, he had enough Mako in his cells to be counted as a SOLDIER, he kicked the door open his guns aimed forward. The scene in the room registered in less than a second. Reno, held down hard by two large males, seizures wracking his bruised and bloodied body, another male in a chair, looking at the situation on the floor. The first bullet that left Vincent gun killed the man holding Reno's shoulders, the second sent the other goon to Ifrit's embrace.

His hands were empty as he pushed the dead men away from Reno, pulling the redhead into his lap, he noted that Tseng and Rude had captured the last man and Tseng was already questioning him.

Vincent was franticly feeling for a pulse, Reno's body had stilled so suddenly, Vincent stopped breathing out of fear, but a thready, erratic flutter under the cold-sweat drenched skin made him relax a little. Wry was there, checking Reno for damage, even though Vincent could see that not much of his adopted son's body had escaped injury. His hands and bare feet lacked nails and the shallow intakes of breathes were rattling and wet.

“Wry?” Vincent asked worriedly, looking up at the other Turk just as Reno started seizing again, the blond Turk carefully placed the redhead on his side, Reno's head spasming in Vincent's lap, the green eyes fluttering as guttural sounds escaped between bleeding lips.

“There are needlemarks, some kind of drug, shoulders are dislocated, we need to get him to hospital,” Wry said silently as he shared a look with Cissnei who held her PHS to her ear, calling for a med-evac. The blond pulled out his kit from his small backpack, Wry always carried Materia for healing and an assortment of drugs, he had brought IV-bags. Vincent heard how the man that had tortured his son mewled in pain from Tseng's handiwork, he was talking rapidly and it was clear that the man knew exactly what organization he had crossed. Reno's seizure stopped, the wet gasping returned, and Vincent brushed his hair very carefully.   
“Sir? I am going to place a needle, I'll need to access his right arm for that,” Wry said cautiously, well-aware that the director was very much on edge, he had seen Chaos once and had no wish for the demon to emerge at this point. Vincent only nodded and they turned Reno to the other side, Vincent murmuring silent assurances to his semi-conscious son, the green eyes slightly open, but sightless. Wry expertly placed the catheter and attached the bag to it, putting it under Vincent's shoulder-flap, and then used tape to secure the site in case of another seizure.

“Sir,” Cissnei came over with the case she had located on a table, Vincent looked into it and saw two syringes, one glowing dimly green by Mako and one with a milky substance in it. “I think this might be whatever they gave Reno.” Wry took the syringe mixed with Mako and studied it before placing it back in the small case before getting up and marching over to Tseng, still making making the third man talk. Cissnei took his place next to Vincent and Reno, her hands was steady as she started to bandage Reno's wrecked hands with gauze. “You know, Reno, I am pissed at you for getting yourself into trouble again, Rufus have been so annoying,” she said with a soft voice, then the seizures returned and Vincent protected his sons head in his lap again, Cissnei unable to do anything but to keep talking to the younger man. “It's OK Reno, your dad is here, as are Tseng and Rude, Wry will sort this out.” Rude's familiar width was standing guard at the door, he had been unable to come close to his partner, he was a lot softer than people thought and seeing the firebrand younger man in this condition was hard on them all. 

The seizure ceased, the gasping intakes of air returned and Cissnei leaned forward tilting Reno's head back a fraction. “It's alright Reno,” Cissnei looked up at her director who was cradling Reno's head and shoulders in his lap. She gave him her handkerchief, and poured some water on it. “Vincent is going to wash some of the blood from your face, and I will continue to bandage your hands and then your feet.” It was an order to Vincent and the red-eyed man tenderly did as he was told. Reno's eyes focused on him for a few seconds before sliding into that unfocused state again, but that small contact with Reno made Vincent hopeful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... Turks to the rescue and an overprotective Daddy!Vincent.


	8. + 1 hour

Two shots barked through the enclosed room and for a second Reno expected to stop breathing, but he didn't, dead weight piled on him, voices he recognized were calling his name and the weight pinning him down was thrown away. He was in someone's lap, a familiar scent of gun-oil and ginger, Vincent, his dad. Reno tried to say something, but what left his lips was just a gurgle. He heard the leader squealing in the background and the fear built in Reno. He wanted out, the men might come back and question him, he heard voices, his father and Wry, and then his body went out of contact again, neurons misfiring and his muscles spasmed painfully. The hands that turned him to the side this time were careful and gentle, and then it was back to ragged breathing, unable to control his tired, aching body. 

Wry was talking to his dad again, and then his body was flipped over carefully, Vincent and Wry talking to him with low voices, Wry as always telling what he was doing, placing a PVC for fluids, the needle slid into his right arm, and the plastic part was taped. 

He heard Cissnei, talking to Wry and Vincent, and Wry got up, it was about the syringes. Reno wanted to get away from this place but his worthless body only obeyed the drug in his veins, pain and suffering. Someone lifted his left hand, he could feel the heel of it rest on fabric and then gauze wrapping around the torn fingers, he breathed harder as it added pain.

“You know, Reno, I a... ...sed at... ...ting yo... ...lf into ...ble again, ...fus have ... so an...” he heard and understood about half of it and then it whitened out into another bout of seizures. When he resurfaced from the seizure, Cissnei was still talking, fingers on his forehead and chin, bending his head back slightly, easing his breathing. “It's alright Reno,” she was trying to keep him calm, but Reno wanted to go home, away from this place. “Vincent is going to wash some of the blood from your face, and I will continue to bandage your hands and then your feet.” 

Something cool and wet touched his forehead, wiping away blood and sweat, a gentle hand and he managed to focus his eyes, the blurry mishmash of colors solidifying into his father's face, red eyes worried. He wanted to flash his father a grin but his body wasn't answering his commands, he could only keep eyecontact for such a short time before he went out again.

 

The next thing Reno was fully aware of was being carried, he was resting in Rude's strong arms, the familiar aftershave grounded him, even if he heard others talk around them, uncle Jonas and that nurse that usually handled the various Turks in hospital care. He would have wept if he could from relief, he was safe, it would stop hurting. Rude laid him down on a table, lights flickered on above him and his mind took the backseat with the next seizure, arms steadied him on the table to avoid him falling off again. His dad was talking to him, words unrecognizable but the tone was calm and steady. The constant pain suddenly vanished into a blanketed quiet darkness...


	9. Healing

A repeated calm slow beeping and recurrent whooshing of trapped air was all he heard at first, he felt ridiculously at ease, he shouldn't be at ease, he was never still. His body was heavy, muscles all to tired to move and the low voices, dad and Jonas, in the background made him just more relaxed and he returned to sleep without much trouble.

}*{}*{}*{}*{

The next time Reno woke, he could connect that the recurrent whooshing of air was in sync with his own breathing and that there was a tube in his mouth and down his throat, a ventilator? Was he on life-support? Why? He tried to move his hand up to his mouth, the beeping heart-monitor sped up as pain spread through his body. Alarms started wailing, but the sound hurt his head, and Reno tried harder to get up, to shut those bloody machines of.

“Reno, calm down,” it was Rude's voice and the man's large hand was on Reno's right lower arm, he knew it was Rude's hand, he would have known in pitch darkness. There was another hand on his chest, careful and gentle, another hand he would have known anywhere, Tseng. But Reno was in pain, he didn't like pain, took too much of his mind, and then he remembered being trapped in the cellar and pain, seizures, the machines were all alarming now, the door slid open and Tseng and Rude stepped back, only giving Reno more cause to panic. His arms were leadened but he fought the ventilator, the alarms were muted.

“Reno, listen to me, we are going to give you something that will help you calm down, your body can't take this strain, it is likely that you will fall asleep again,” it was Wry and Reno tried to calm down but it hurt and dammit, he was scared! “Reno, it's alright, you are safe,” Wry said, his hand on Reno's bandaged one, a mild cool sensation spread up his arm, and Wry kept repeating that he was safe, the frantic beeps from the heart-monitor slowed down, “much better Reno, you are safe, Tseng and Rude will be here for another hour, then Ciss and Emma will take over for a watch, you are safe.”

Reno couldn't stay awake much longer, but he was troubled by the fact that he hadn't been able to open his eyes, he was pretty sure that he had opened his eyes, but he hadn't seen anything...

}*{}*{}*{}*{}*{}*{}*{}*{

Vincent's and Sephiroth's voices were in the background the next time Reno woke up properly, the sounds of the machines keeping him alive were in the foreground. His mouth felt like a desert around the tube, but no pain, good drugs, he did remember the torture now but they had probably given him something for anxiety, so he didn't panic. He experimentally tried to move his fingers, they flinched, but not much more. But it had caught his family's attention.

“Hey,” Sephiroth said, a hand touching Reno's twitching fingers, they had moved their chairs closer and Vincent had his hand on Reno's lower leg. Reno forced his eyes open, the room was kept lowly lit but he still only saw Sephiroth and his dad as blurry blobs. He frowned a little trying to squint them into focus with little effect. Seph's hand moved up to his face rubbing out the frown. “Headache?” Reno managed to shake his head, blinking several times afterwards. 

“Your eyes are bothering you?” Vincent asked as he got up and walked closer, taking Reno's left hand in his own, a minute nod, he was already tired again, and he closed his eyes tiredly, sleep claiming him again.

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“...'nt think it is permanent, the remaining swelling in his brain is subsiding, it might be a kind of paralysis from the seizures, even that is likely not permanent. Reflexes are returning to normal, EEG is also within normal range,” Jonas said as Reno woke up this time. 

“The ventilator? When can you remove that?” Vincent asked, Reno moved his hand, it was resting in his father's and Vincent's long fingers curled around his. “Awake again?”

“Reno,” Jonas said, “could you open your eyes for me?” Reno obeyed, everything was still blurry. “Good, we are going to raise the end of the bed a bit more,” Jonas arranged the bed, Reno squirmed a little, the heart-monitor slowed, he felt dizzy, how long had he been in that bed? An alarm started beeping. “BP is dropping,” Jonas looked at the screen, silenced the alarm, then adjusted the control one of the drips and Reno felt the dizziness disappear after a few moments. “That drop in blood pressure means that taking you of the ventilator will have to wait a while longer. Reno? I want you to follow my pen with your eyes, don't move your head while you do it.” Jonas moved the pen, keeping his eyes on how Reno's eyes moved. “Eye-movement is normal, I want you to tap Vincent's hand if it's blurred.” Reno did, it was better than the last time he had been awake, but everything considered, he was more than a little scared that it would remain. “It is probably aftereffects of the drug you were given, but considering that you also suffered a fracture to the back of your skull, I will arrange another series of scans,” the dark-haired professor said as he patted Reno's upper arm, it was an affectionate touch. “Any pain?” Reno shook his head, looking at his father, squinting to bring more focus, Vincent smiled a little, dark circles under his red eyes, it was clear that the director was tired. “Yes, I have noticed that as well Reno, but Vincent isn't listening to orders,” Jonas grinned at his old friend who didn't even look bothered.

“I've gone longer without rest, you know,” Vincent said with a very slight shrug.

“And I have told you that you need the rest, I am not going to be happy with you if you go into hibernation, it's hard to rouse you from that state,” Jonas grumbled as he nimbly hit the keys on the nearby computer, Reno grinned around the tube. He liked the drugs they were giving him, it was hard to get anxious or feel the lingering pain. He tapped his father's hand with his finger, then made the hand-sign for time, hoping that they would understand that he wanted to know how long it had been since they had extracted him. It was a safe enough term, extraction. 

“Eight days, they kept you in an induced coma for the first five, then you have been sleeping more normally and been awake on several occasions, this is the longest you have been alert,” Vincent said, looking up at Jonas.

“Yes, nearly seven minutes now, are you feeling tired?” Reno had to consider that but shook his head, he wasn't to tired, yet. The door opened and a couple of nurses and Aerith entered, his little 'cousin' was wearing her pale-purple intern clothes. “We'll get you over to the MRI, do you want me to push the sedatives and let you sleep through it?” Jonas asked as the arrivals started to disconnect some of the machines, reconnecting to more mobile versions, Reno shook his head. He wanted to stay awake as long as possible.

“Should I wait here?” Vincent asked.

“You should go and get some rest uncle Vin,” Aerith ordered as she started to push Reno's bed out into the corridor. “Zack and I will sit with Reno, my shift is over in twenty minutes anyway. I will tell mom if you don't obey.” That comment made Reno grin, not many people on the Planet had Vincent wincing, but Ifalna Faremis had him around her little finger, and the fact that the doctor also knew exactly what to drug the director with made him do exactly what she said. Ifalna had once even used a tranq-gun, aimed at Vincent's behind as a threat. He had obeyed that time, Reno knew that he would obey her this time as well.


End file.
